No Place Like Home

April 16, 2019

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.< Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

The children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land. For 40 years they had been a mobile culture, never settling in and becoming permanent residents anywhere. This was about to change. As they entered the land God was giving them, they would have neighbors, other countries and cultures that were very different and opposed to the God they served, and the guidelines God had given them for a fulfilling life. As they stood at the brink of this momentous change, Moses spoke to them on behalf of God. He told them that the future of the children and in turn the destiny of the nation was in the hands of the parents. How they handled life at home would have an indelible imprint on their children and would influence everything that would come after.

This has never changed. It is the truth that still predicts our futures. Moses gave very practical advice to them and to us on how to make sure our children are not taken over by the culture that would pull them away from God.

• Parents have the greatest potential impact on their children’s lives. Take responsibility, and don’t try to delegate or shift it to anyone else.
• Make your own knowledge of, relationship with, and obedience to God your number one priority. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds.”
• Intentionally teach God’s principles to your children daily. “When you lie down and when you get up.”
• Teach naturally through your life and through processing the everyday experiences of life. “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road . . .”
• Make your home environment a powerful and public witness to your faith. “Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
  

Think about and pray about these things today:

• Is my relationship with God and my lifestyle one I want my children to emulate?
• What morning and evening rituals could help my family grow?
• How does our home and environment reflect our faith?
• How could we up our impact for our children, their friends, and our guests?